Dusky panorama...

of Castle Valley, Utah from a high vantage point below Porcupine Rim, with a nearly-full Moon rising above Adobe Mesa in the center of this image.

A predator reconnoiters...

the feeding stations from a lofty perch, taking note of the abundant finches and sparrows on the buffet. I’m anticipating this one will be a regular visitor through the winter season.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus).

One inch of liquid sunshine...

fell overnight in Castle Valley. More rain continues to fall into the day, eventually turning to sleet/hail/snow, but no catastrophic flooding has occurred.

UPDATE: A total of 1.6 inches (41 mm) of rain fell in this first winter storm of the season. An outstanding start to the water year.

'Moab Man' is my copilot...

on my recently refurbished RadRover 5, now approaching 4,300 miles (6,900 km). The vinyl explorer is seen below, with aluminum cargo found discarded along the road.

We’ve had a week of stunningly beautiful days. Here’s the view today, at high noon, looking south from the base of Parriott Mesa.

My Trek Firefly eMTB continues to be super fun and now registers 1,091 miles (1,756 km) on its digital odometer.

Yellow signals are being loudly broadcast...

to the remaining high desert pollinators by the tiny broom snakeweed and much larger rubber rabbitbrush, the last remaining flowering plants this season. They’re both quite lovely right now.

Rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa (formerly Chrysothamnus nauseosus)).

Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae).

These peculiar holes...

that occur in the region’s sandstones are, as believed by some, excavated by the extremely rare and endangered Diamond-billed Rock Pecker. They remain elusive to this bird photographer and so a drawing will have to suffice.

Save the Pecker! This sticker is available at Moab Motorsports.

Geologists, on the other hand, would suggest that the eroded pockets are a product of chemical weathering by dissolution of the binding cements in the sandstone, with the wind sweeping out the grains, slowly through time. That seems to be the working explanation elsewhere.

A phallic fungus...

raises its stinky black-capped head in a matter of hours, triggered by recent heavy rains and today’s warming sunshine. Several of these odd fruiting bodies have emerged over the last six hours. Flies love the putrid odor.

Stinkhorn fungus (Phallus impudicus), also known as prickle mushroom for some reason.

First snow arrives...

in the high country in the La Sal Mountains of southern Utah. It’s been a stormy day in Castle Valley.

Mt. Waas (elevation 12,306 ft / 3,751 m) and Manns Peak (12,272 ft / 3,741 m), left and right, respectively. That’s the summit of Round Mountain in the lower left.